truthinbeer - Matric dance - is the South African version of the Year 12 school formal

Some rich parent trying to outdo all the others in a farming district - did not seem like such a good idea after their kids nearly "bought the farm"!footnote - the formal was cancelled after the school lost all power

Pilot ran it down probably not being as scared as onlookers, or taking time to compose him/herself. The chance of shedding MR blade was highest during impact (and maybe seconds after) and since they close to ground anyway. Wires and poles everywhere, why not steepen the approach a tad or accept crosswind? Well, probably not as dumb as the R44 scenic video on youtube where the pilot clipped the edge of the hangar's bifold doors with MR, somewhere in US.

What happened to orbiting your landing area to do a scene check? and I agree with the other poster, never let someone on the ground who has no idea what they are doing direct you as to where to land. He pointed him directly to a high wire environment from somewhere that he was originally heading that looked clear....thats non aviation people for you. I once had a fireman setting up a landing zone for an EMS run that had wires on 3 sides when the paddock on the other side of the road had none. Had to give him a quick lesson in situational awareness...

At the end of the day HE/SHE was PIC of that aircraft, so don't go pointing the finger at the guy on the ground. Only a very spethal person would not be able to see those wires... there where about 8-10 power poles running through that park... you could see out to the right hand side on his first final approach and right in front of him when he turned to come around for his second approach.. POLES EVERYWHERE

At the lest he/she could have done at lest one high recce, 5 W's minimum (wind, Weight, Wire's, way in, way out) This was a d*ck move and is 100% PIC fault, It could of ended a lot worse, they're lucky it didn't

Marshal shmarshal this is another classic example that the marshaller on the ground is simply a tool that You may or may not elect to use this highlights the need for the PIC to glance at the marshaller then assess the bigger picture & do the best thing possible following a thorough SWAT check!!! We recently had a horrendous accident where a junior Pilot was marshaled to land a 350B3 with his tail almost on top of the PAX he was to pick up. There was a good drop off ledge on 2 sides of the Helipad where he could/should have hung the TailRotor off & safely clear. The marshaller realized how close the TR was to the PAX & ran back to check on them running straight through the TailRotor Blades killing himself boom cracked, TR drive shaft sheared, TGB damaged & new TR blades .....what a shiite way to start your career.

Your ground staff/marshaller is just a guide not a God & in no way precludes Your Airmanship responsibilities to land the machine in the safest possible position to avoid/minimize such sad events

We all see the same thing differently, I see the Marshaller pointing to where he thinks the chopper should land, not which way the chopper should approach to that spot, if the chopper flew from where it original approached too, in front of the cars almost over the camera man’s head sort of, he would/might not have hit any wires.

Never trust anyone on the ground, even if you know them, check for yourself.

My question, what happened to the pre job survey? Drive out there a few days before, check the site, have a landing site sorted before you even take off. And don't make it right in the middle of the car park, where hyped up kids and parents are going to be walking around ready to walk into your tail rotor....

When sent away from the first place it looked like he was heading further away, it looks like a river stop bank or something, he could have landed out there away from everyone.

I get asked to do these flights every year, and I always say yes not a problem, either we empty the car park just for you, not going to happen, or we are going to land out on the sports field, so no one will see you arrive.... I haven't done a prom flight yet!

Last edited by SuperF on Sun Aug 24 2014, 10:54, edited 1 time in total.

The people in the footage making hand signals (there are two of them), are not marshallers at all.Marshalling is a communication skill which is part of a profession, and it's grating to have the title conferred upon two penguins waving their arms around in a non prescribed manner. The series of their debacles and waste of effort is a direct consequence of the two sentences. Nothing was planned.

It you watch the footage magnified, frame by frame after he crosses the lines and turns towards the carpark, the pilot continually maintains his view to his right (where the sole blue vehicle is parked) and does not shift his scan, even at the time of the strike, to the front or on the other side of the disc, and all of the way to the ground.

What was considered probably to be a simple routine flight resulted in an uncontrolled confined area activity riddled with hazards that were multiple and inappropriately identified or poorly conducted. And where were the escapes and alternates?

The confined area chosen was not the best option. This point is amplified practically and sensibly in previous comments. Where was the pilot's mindset? How much more critical would the scene have resulted in hot engine, downed power lines, aviation and vehicle fuels, and a concentration of people?

Even for the most mundane task, anything that is attached to an aircraft must have the same standards as the aircraft itself applied to it, that includes sticking an LZ or people to it.